JP6295024B2 - Minimal manufacturing equipment, production line and production line recombination method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a minimal manufacturing apparatus, a production line, and a production line recombination method for quickly, efficiently, and securely performing construction and change operations on a production line suitable for device manufacturing and the like.

  Minimal fabs are attracting attention as a low-cost and energy-saving production method for high-mix low-volume production and variety-variable production of semiconductor devices. The minimal manufacturing apparatus is a unit that processes one process of a production line such as exposure, etching, and cleaning of a semiconductor device in a minimal fab. The minimal fab production line is constructed by arranging the minimal manufacturing equipment responsible for the necessary processes in the order of the manufacturing process. The latest research on minimal fab is described in Non-Patent Document 1, for example.

"Semiconductor Production System and Minimal Fab Concept" February 23, 2009 "3rd Minimal Manufacturing Symposium" Presenter Shiro Hara, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

The known prior art has the following problems to be solved.
If the arrangement of the minimal manufacturing equipment arranged for manufacturing one product is changed, a production line for another product is realized. When changing the production line, it is necessary to lift and move the minimal manufacturing device, and lower it to another place and fix it. However, a minimal manufacturing apparatus that is taller than the bottom area is unstable. Moreover, in order to facilitate the conveyance of parts and products between processes, it is necessary to shorten the interval between adjacent minimal manufacturing apparatuses and arrange them accurately.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention aims to provide a minimal manufacturing apparatus suitable for quick movement, safe and reliable transportation and fixing, a production line in which minimal manufacturing apparatuses are arranged, and a method for recombining production lines. And

  The following configurations are means for solving the above-described problems.

<Configuration 1>
A minimal manufacturing device having the following elements.
(A) The minimal manufacturing apparatus main body is surrounded by the front wall, the rear wall, the left side wall, and the right side wall, and the bottom is protected by the bottom plate 36.
(B) A pair of leg portions is provided in parallel to a portion of the bottom plate 36 located immediately below the left side wall and the right side wall.
(C) A space directly under the bottom plate 36 and sandwiched between the pair of legs has a space into which the lifting mechanism 25 of the transporting device 14 is inserted.
(D) A fixing structure 16 that supports the bottom plate 36 is provided on the floor surface .
(E) The fixing structure 16 is provided with first to third V groove bases 66 having a planar contact surface. The first V-groove base 66 is provided near the lower side of the left side wall of the minimal manufacturing apparatus main body, and the second V-groove base 66 is provided near the lower side of the right side wall. The stand 66 is provided near the lower portion of the rear wall. The distance from the first V-groove base 66 to the third V-groove base 66 is substantially equal to the distance from the second V-groove base 66 to the third V-groove base 66.
The (f) said pair of legs or the bottom plate, contact surface spherical first to third positioning leg 42 is provided Tei Rutotomoni, first, second coupling mechanism 71 is provided.
(G) The first to third positioning legs 42 are respectively connected to the first to third V groove bases 66 of the fixing structure 16 when the bottom plate 36 is lowered toward the fixing structure 16. in contact with each location, such as to support the minimal manufacturing apparatus main body while positioning the bottom plate 36, it is disposed in a horizontal orientation.
(H) The first connecting mechanism 71 is near the lower side of the left side wall of the minimal manufacturing apparatus main body, on the rear wall side with respect to the first V-groove base 66 and on the third V-groove. It is arranged at a position closer to the front wall than the base 66. The second connecting mechanism 71 is near the lower side of the right side wall of the minimal manufacturing apparatus main body, on the rear wall side from the second V groove base 66 and from the third V groove base 66. Is also arranged at a position on the front wall side. The first and second coupling mechanisms 71 include hook arms 72 provided on the bottom plate 36 and hook receivers 74 provided on the fixing structure 16, and the first to third V-groove bases 66. With the bottom plate 36 positioned using the first and third positioning legs 42, the free end of the hook arm 72 is engaged from the lower surface side of the hook receiver 74, and the upward pressing force is applied. The bottom plate 36 and the fixing structure 16 are connected by applying substantially vertically.

<Configuration 2 >
The minimal manufacturing apparatus according to Configuration 1 having the following elements.
( I ) The connecting mechanism 71 further includes a lever 84 for driving the hook .
( J ) The lever 84 is inserted / removed along the leg portion, an operating handle 86 is provided at one end of the lever, and the other end is connected to the hook arm 72, and the lever 84 is inserted / removed. By doing so, the hook arm 72 and the hook receiver 74 are separated, or the hook arm 72 and the hook receiver 74 are connected.

<Configuration 3 >
The minimal manufacturing apparatus of the structure 2 which has the following elements.
( K ) The gate 90 is provided in the insertion port for inserting the transport device into the space between the legs.
( L ) The gate 90 is opened with the hook arm 72 and the hook receiver 74 separated, and the gate 90 is closed with the hook arm 72 and the hook receiver 74 connected, It will be in the state which prevents insertion of a conveying apparatus.

<Configuration 4 >
The minimal manufacturing apparatus in any one of the structure 1 thru | or the structure 3 which has the following elements.
(M) The fixing structure 16 includes a front wheel stopper 38 that positions and supports the wheels of the transport device.

<Configuration 5 >
The minimal manufacturing apparatus in any one of the structure 1 thru | or the structure 4 which has the following elements.
(N) An inclination adjusting base 70 is provided adjacent to the V groove base 66 of the fixed structure 16, and an inclination adjusting screw 68 is provided at a position facing the inclination adjusting base 70 of the bottom plate 36. .
(P) When any one of the inclination adjusting screws 68 is protruded, the positioning leg 42 is lifted from the V-groove base 66 within an allowable range.

<Configuration 6 >
A production line characterized in that fixing structures 16 for fixing the minimal manufacturing apparatus according to Configuration 1 are arranged for a required production process.

<Configuration 7 >
A production line characterized in that it transports the minimal manufacturing apparatus described in Configuration 1 and fixes it on the fixed structure 16, and removes the minimal manufacturing apparatus described in Configuration 1 from the fixed structure 16 and transports it by the transporting device. Recombination method.

<Effect of Configuration 1 >
The minimal manufacturing device is transported by the transport device and lowered onto the fixed structure on the floor. The stopper mechanism stops the minimal manufacturing apparatus accurately in the correct direction, and the positioning mechanism performs positioning with high accuracy by fitting the pin and the block. Thereafter, since the hook mechanism connects the leg portion and the fixing structure, the minimal manufacturing apparatus is stably fixed to the floor surface.
<Effect of Configuration 2 >
By inserting and removing the lever 84, the minimal manufacturing apparatus and the fixing structure can be easily connected or separated.
<Effect of Configuration 3 >
The conveying device is not inserted in a state where the minimal manufacturing device and the fixing structure are connected.
<Effect of Configuration 4 >
The conveying device can be accurately positioned between the minimal manufacturing device and the fixed structure.
<Effect of Configuration 5 >
The influence of the slight inclination of the floor surface can be adjusted while maintaining the positioning accuracy.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a state in which a bottom plate 36 is placed on the fixing structure 16. It is a perspective view of the apparatus which conveys the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 (FIG. 1). FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a fixing structure 16. FIG. 3 is a side view of the main part in a state where a bottom plate is placed on the fixing structure 16 4 is a bottom view of a bottom plate 36. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the vicinity of a lever 84. FIG. (A) is a side view in the vicinity of the lever 84, and (b) and (c) are side views showing the function of the hook arm 72. It is a side view of the state after fixing the baseplate 36 to the fixing structure 16, (b) is a perspective view of a conveying apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the outline of the production line 20 which arranged the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12. FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail for each example.

(Outline configuration)
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an outline of a production line in which the minimal manufacturing apparatuses 12 of the present invention are arranged, and (b) is a perspective view of the transporting apparatus.
In the present invention, as shown in the figure, the minimal manufacturing device 12 is transported by a dedicated transport device and arranged on a floor surface 18 having a predetermined fixing structure 16. A production line is realized by combining the minimal manufacturing apparatuses 12 of the required number of processes. For conveying materials and products between the minimal manufacturing apparatuses 12, for example, an automatic conveyance mechanism such as a robot arm (not shown) is used.

  The minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 has a shape that is taller than the bottom area as shown in the figure. Therefore, it is unstable to vibration / impact as it is. Moreover, for example, accurate positioning is necessary for automatic conveyance of materials between the minimal manufacturing apparatuses 12. Therefore, the transporting device 14 shown in the figure has a function of accurately lowering the minimal manufacturing device 12 onto the fixed structure 14. Further, the fixing structure 14 has a function of accurately and reliably fixing the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 to the floor surface 18. Both the transporting device 14 and the fixing structure 16 have a structure with good operability in order to change the arrangement of many minimal manufacturing apparatuses 12 in a short time.

  Adjacent minimal manufacturing apparatuses 12 are arranged at a minimum interval. For example, one minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 is arranged in a space having a width of about 30 cm with an interval of about 5 mm to 1 cm between adjacent apparatuses. By providing an interval, each minimal manufacturing device 12 can be freely replaced without affecting other devices. In addition, if the devices are arranged at a high density with a narrow interval, the factory space can be used effectively. Furthermore, parts and products can be easily transported from the previous process to the next process, and the transport apparatus can be reduced in size.

  A production line using the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 has a feature that it can be easily and easily rearranged. At the time of rearrangement of the production line, the transport device 14 lifts the minimal manufacturing device 12 from the floor surface 18, transports it to the target location, positions it accurately, and fixes it to the floor surface 18. The transporting device of the present invention has a function of performing this operation easily. Further, a highly accurate mechanism is provided that prevents a collision with the adjacent minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 during positioning on the floor surface 18 or during attachment / detachment operation.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a state in which the bottom plate 36 is placed on the fixing structure 16. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an apparatus for transporting the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 (FIG. 1) inserted under the bottom plate 36 of this embodiment.
The fixing structure 16 is fixed at a predetermined position on the floor surface on which the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 (FIG. 1) is installed. The bottom plate 36 is fixed to the bottom surface of the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12. When the bottom plate 36 is accurately positioned on the fixed structure 16, the above-described minimal manufacturing apparatuses 12 can be aligned at regular intervals, for example, at intervals of 5 to 120 mm. This is as described in the previous embodiment.

The fixing structure 16 is provided with a structure for receiving the positioning legs 42 and the support pillars 44 provided on the bottom plate 36. Details will be described in FIG.
The fixing structure 16 is provided with a connecting mechanism 71 for fixing the bottom plate 36 to the fixing structure 16. A mechanism such as a lever 84 and a handle 86 for operating the coupling mechanism 71 is attached to the bottom plate 36. In this specification, the same reference numerals are used for components having the same function even if the mounting positions are different.

A lifter gate 90 is provided on the left side of the bottom plate 36 in FIG. 1, and the carrier device 14 (FIG. 2) can be inserted below the bottom plate 36 when it is open.
With the front wheel 82 of the transporting device 14 riding on the front wheel stopper 38 of the fixing structure 16, the bottom plate 36 is positioned at the optimum position above the fixing structure 16. Accordingly, when the transport device 14 is operated to lower the bottom plate 36, the bottom plate 36 can be accurately lowered to a predetermined position on the fixed structure 16.

  In FIG. 2, the transport device 14 pushes and moves the handle 22. When the lifting mechanism 25 is inserted below the bottom plate 36 (FIG. 1) in the state of FIG. 1, the insertion starts from the lifter gate 90 side and stops when the front wheel 82 rides on the front wheel stopper 38. When the handle 24 is rotated, the elevating mechanism 25 is moved up and down, and the bottom plate 36 can be raised and lowered.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fixing structure 16. FIG. 4 is a side view of the main part in a state where the bottom plate 36 is placed on the fixing structure 16. FIG. 4 shows a state where a part of the positioning leg 42 is removed and the lower part thereof and the inclination adjusting screw 68 are exposed.
The fixing structure 16 has an E shape having two long arms on both sides parallel to each other and a short arm at the center. And V-groove base 66 is provided in three places on the end of a long arm and the end of a short arm. Positioning legs 42 provided at three places on the bottom plate 36 are placed on the V groove base 66. As shown in FIG. 4, a V-shaped groove is cut in the V-groove base 66 with high accuracy. The positioning leg 42 has a spherical surface in contact with the V-groove, and the positioning leg 42 and the V-groove base 66 are in contact at two points. Further, the horizontal orientations of the V grooves of the three V groove bases 66 are different. In the example of FIG. 3, the direction of two V-grooves and one V-groove are orthogonal. Therefore, when the three positioning legs 42 and the three V-groove bases 66 come into contact with each other, the bottom plate 36 is accurately positioned at a predetermined position above the fixing structure 16.

  As described above, the transport device 14 puts the minimal manufacturing device 12 thereon, and advances the front wheel 82 (FIG. 2) from the left side of FIG. At this time, the minimal manufacturing device 12 may be placed at a predetermined position of the transporting device 14 so that the three positioning legs 42 of the bottom plate 36 are directly above the three V-groove bases 66 of the fixing structure 16.

  When the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 to which the bottom plate 36 is attached is placed at a place other than the fixed structure 16, if the positioning leg 42 comes into contact with the floor surface, the portion in contact with the V groove base 66 is damaged or deformed, and the positioning accuracy is lowered. Therefore, support pillars 44 are attached to the four corners of the bottom plate 36. The support pillar 44 has a length that supports the bottom plate 36 at a height that does not allow the positioning leg 42 to directly contact the floor surface. The number is suitably 3-4.

  The fixed structure 16 is provided with column supports 64 for receiving the support columns 44 at corresponding positions. Further, when the fixing structure 16 is fixed to the floor surface, if the floor surface is not exactly horizontal, the bottom plate 36 cannot be supported horizontally, and the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 is inclined. Therefore, the bottom plate 36 is provided with an inclination adjusting screw 68 at a position adjacent to the positioning leg 42. The inclination adjusting screw 68 has a male screw portion screwed into the bottom plate 36, and can be adjusted in length protruding from the bottom surface of the bottom plate 36 by rotating.

  The fixed structure 16 is provided with an inclination adjustment base 70 so as to be adjacent to the V-groove base 66. When the inclination adjustment screw 68 of the bottom plate 36 is protruded long, it abuts against the inclination adjustment stand 70 of the fixed structure 16. When the protruding lengths of the three inclination adjusting screws 68 are adjusted, any of the positioning legs 42 can be lifted and the posture of the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 can be corrected correctly. At this time, if the amount of lifting of the positioning leg 42 from the V-groove base 66 is set within the allowable range, the positioning will not be distorted. In this way, it is possible to adjust the posture by raising any one of the positioning legs 42 while maintaining the positional accuracy.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the bottom plate 36.
As described above, the support pillars 44 are fixed to the four corners of the lower surface of the bottom plate 36. In addition, a lifter gate 90 is attached to the left side of the figure by a hinge 91 so as to be opened and closed. Three sets of positioning legs 42 and an inclination adjusting screw 68 are fixed near both sides of the lifter gate 90 and on the right side of the bottom plate 36. A hook arm 72 supported by a guide plate 76 and a lever 84 for operating the hook arm 72 are attached to the central side surface of the bottom plate 36.

  A handle 86 is attached to the left end portion of the lever 84 in the drawing. When the handle 86 is pulled leftward in the drawing and the lever 84 is pulled out leftward in the drawing, the cam pin 78 of the hook arm 72 is guided to the guide plate 76. The hook arm 72 is pulled up. As a result, the hook arm 72 and the hook receiver 74 (FIG. 3) are unlocked. At this time, the connection between the bottom plate 36 and the fixing structure 16 is released, and the bottom plate 36 can be moved. This is the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of parts near the lever 84. 7A is a side view in the vicinity of the lever 84, and FIGS. 7B and 7C are side views showing the function of the hook arm 72.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7A, when the lever 84 is pulled out using the handle 86, the claws 92 on both sides of the lifter gate 90 mesh with the claws 93 on the upper edge of the lever 84. In this state, the lifter gate 90 remains open, and the lever 84 cannot be easily returned to the original state while being pulled out. Further, when the lever 84 is pulled out in this way, the lock is released as shown in FIG. 7B, and the bottom plate 36 may be lifted by a lifter. Since the lifter gate 90 is kept open, the lifter (FIG. 2) can be inserted under the bottom plate 36.

  On the other hand, if the lever 84 is pushed into the lower surface of the bottom plate 36 after the lifter gate 90 is lifted up slightly, the hook arm 72 shown in FIG. 7 (b) moves the cam pin 78 along the groove 76a of the guide plate 76. By this action, the link unit 80 is rotated about the axis. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7C, the free end side of the hook arm 72 is engaged with the hook receiver 74. Thus, the bottom plate 36 and the fixing structure 16 are connected to prevent the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 from falling. At the same time, since the lifter gate 90 does not have the lever 84 supported on the lower side, the lifter gate 90 rotates by gravity around the hinge 91 and closes the left side of the bottom plate 36. As a result, the lifter cannot be inserted under the bottom plate 36. With this structure, it is possible to prevent the lifter from being erroneously operated in the locked state.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the state after the bottom plate 36 is fixed to the fixing structure 16.
The lifter gate 90 on the left side of the bottom plate 36 is closed. If normal installation can be performed only by the relationship between the positioning leg 42 and the V-groove base 66, positioning is completed without any adjustment. When a slight inclination correction is required, the protruding amount of one of the inclination adjusting screws 68 is adjusted. With the above configuration, the minimal manufacturing apparatus 12 can be simply installed on the floor, and a manufacturing line using the minimal apparatus can be completed.

 The present invention can be widely applied not only to semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses but also to production lines that produce a variety of products in various fields.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Minimal manufacturing apparatus 18 Floor 14 Conveying apparatus 16 Fixing structure 22 Arm 24 Handle 25 Elevating mechanism 36 Bottom plate 38 Front wheel stopper 42 Positioning leg 44 Supporting pillar 64 Pillar support 66 V-groove base 68 Inclination adjusting screw 70 Inclination adjusting base 71 Connecting mechanism 72 Hook arm 74 Hook receiver 76 Guide plate 78 Cam pin 80 Link portion 82 Front wheel 84 Lever 86 Handle 90 Lifter gate 91 Hinge 92 Claw 93 Claw

Claims (7)

A minimal manufacturing device having the following elements.
(A) The minimal manufacturing apparatus main body is surrounded by the front wall, the rear wall, the left side wall, and the right side wall, and the bottom is protected by the bottom plate 36.
(B) A pair of leg portions is provided in parallel to a portion of the bottom plate 36 located immediately below the left side wall and the right side wall.
(C) A space directly under the bottom plate 36 and sandwiched between the pair of legs has a space into which the lifting mechanism 25 of the transporting device 14 is inserted.
(D) A fixing structure 16 that supports the bottom plate 36 is provided on the floor surface .
(E) The fixing structure 16 is provided with first to third V groove bases 66 having a planar contact surface. The first V-groove base 66 is provided near the lower side of the left side wall of the minimal manufacturing apparatus main body, and the second V-groove base 66 is provided near the lower side of the right side wall. The stand 66 is provided near the lower portion of the rear wall. The distance from the first V-groove base 66 to the third V-groove base 66 is substantially equal to the distance from the second V-groove base 66 to the third V-groove base 66.
The (f) said pair of legs or the bottom plate, contact surface spherical first to third positioning leg 42 is provided Tei Rutotomoni, first, second coupling mechanism 71 is provided.
(G) The first to third positioning legs 42 are respectively connected to the first to third V groove bases 66 of the fixing structure 16 when the bottom plate 36 is lowered toward the fixing structure 16. in contact with each location, such as to support the minimal manufacturing apparatus main body while positioning the bottom plate 36, it is disposed in a horizontal orientation.
(H) The first connecting mechanism 71 is near the lower side of the left side wall of the minimal manufacturing apparatus main body, on the rear wall side with respect to the first V-groove base 66 and on the third V-groove. It is arranged at a position closer to the front wall than the base 66. The second connecting mechanism 71 is near the lower side of the right side wall of the minimal manufacturing apparatus main body, on the rear wall side from the second V groove base 66 and from the third V groove base 66. Is also arranged at a position on the front wall side. The first and second coupling mechanisms 71 include hook arms 72 provided on the bottom plate 36 and hook receivers 74 provided on the fixing structure 16, and the first to third V-groove bases 66. With the bottom plate 36 positioned using the first and third positioning legs 42, the free end of the hook arm 72 is engaged from the lower surface side of the hook receiver 74, and the upward pressing force is applied. The bottom plate 36 and the fixing structure 16 are connected by applying substantially vertically.   The minimal manufacturing apparatus of Claim 1 which has the following elements.
(I) The connecting mechanism 71 further includes a lever 84 for driving the hook.
(J) The lever 84 is inserted / removed along the leg portion, an operation handle 86 is provided at one end of the lever, and the other end is connected to the hook arm 72, and the lever 84 is inserted / removed. By doing so, the hook arm 72 and the hook receiver 74 are separated, or the hook arm 72 and the hook receiver 74 are connected.   The minimal manufacturing apparatus of Claim 2 which has the following elements.
(K) The gate 90 is provided in the insertion port for inserting the transport device into the space between the legs.
(L) In a state where the hook arm 72 and the hook receiver 74 are separated, the gate 90 is opened, and in a state where the hook arm 72 and the hook receiver 74 are connected, the gate 90 is closed, It will be in the state which prevents insertion of a conveying apparatus.   The minimal manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising the following elements.
(M) The fixing structure 16 includes a front wheel stopper 38 that positions and supports the wheels of the transport device.   The minimal manufacturing apparatus in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4 which has the following elements.
(N) An inclination adjusting base 70 is provided adjacent to the V groove base 66 of the fixed structure 16, and an inclination adjusting screw 68 is provided at a position facing the inclination adjusting base 70 of the bottom plate 36. .
(P) When any one of the inclination adjusting screws 68 is protruded, the positioning leg 42 is lifted from the V-groove base 66 within an allowable range.   A production line, wherein the fixing structure 16 for fixing the minimal manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 is arranged for a required production process.   The minimal manufacturing device according to claim 1 is transported and fixed on a fixing structure 16, and the minimal manufacturing device according to claim 1 is removed from the fixing structure 16 and transported by a transporting device. How to rearrange production lines.

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